Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley

I visited this WHS in December 2021 and what was initially planned as quick visit due to COVID closures, turned out to be a great experience over three days. I had contacted a number of small hotels at Zapotitlan as well as a great local company called Bio Fan for more information on some hiking possibilities and to have further information whether the Helia Bravo Botanical Gardens were open since they had been closed for almost two years due to the pandemic.

After weeks with no positive reply, the day before heading towards Oaxaca from Puebla, we received good news: the botanical gardens were finally open on Christmas Eve, so we changed our initial plans and booked a very early guided tour with the friendly and knowledgable Bio Fan to Santa Ana Tecomavaca to spot the military macaws at sunrise (great with binoculars, much less for photography at least with a bridge camera) on the last day before heading to Oaxaca as it's quite on the way. We also did a shorter visit to a place known locally as El Bosque de los Sotolines which we had initially planned as Plan B should the Botanical Gardens be still closed as I wanted to make sure to see the endemic Pata de elefante or sotolin tree which is believed to be the oldest (800+ years old) in the region of Tehuacan. We simply parked our car close by and hiked slightly uphill. Next we headed to the Helia Bravo Botanical …

Time of visit: November 2021

Duration of visit: 2 hours

Mode of transportation: by rental car, en route from Puebla to Oaxaca

Review and experience

Tehuacan-Cuicatlan Valley features beautiful landscape full of cacti, particularly the unique single column cacti that reminded us of garden eels in an aquarium. We visited the Zapotitlán-Cuicatlán portion of the site and were so glad we made the relatively last minute decision to make this detour happen. Along the main highway connecting Puebla and Oaxaca, we really didn't see many cacti, even as we were approaching the site (driving south from Puebla). However, a few minutes into our turn into the valley, it's as if the landscape just exploded. There were so many. Despite being a desert, it's truly a forest. 

Due to COVID, the specific site mentioned in several other prior reviews - Helia Bravo Hollis Garden - was closed. Instead, we visited the nearby Las Salinas Grandes salt mine. It's directly off the road, and as we arrived during the day, there was a worker there who gave us a lovely tour of the facilities (for a very reasonable fee). We learned that this particular salt farm has been continuously functioning for the past 600 years, and it was interest to walk on the pond, taste the salt water (don't recommend... it was gross and putrid) and finished salt (recommend tasting!). We left the tour grateful to have had a brief taste of the cultural aspect of this …

Frederic M has done what I believe is the best way to really appreciate the OUV of this site--taking a multi-day tour. This was what I hoped of doing when I visited Mexico, but unfortunately, I did not have enough time and resources and I was traveling with my friend who was not too inclined to do such tours. Date of Visit: April 2019

Description:

The nomination file indicates that the Tehucan-Cuicatlan Valley is an “arid or semi-arid zone with the richest biodiversity in all of North America.” It adds that the valley occupies an expansive area between Oaxaca and Puebla, which can be accessed through the scenic 135D highway. The nomination file also said that “it is one of the main centers for the diversification of the cacti family”, and “it harbors the densest forests of columnar cacti in the world”. As a biologist by education, this is the aspect of the site that I focused on.

Experience:

Taking the single or multi-day tours was already out of the question given the above reasons. Hence, I had to choose properties within the core zone that were accessible for travelers with limited time. Reading through the nomination file and other sources, the following properties were mentioned:

• Parque Ecoturistico Turritelas
• Salinas Las Grandes
• Helia Bravo Hollis Botanical Garden

Sinuhe mentioned the Helia Bravo Hollis Botanical Garden in his review. Just to feel assured, I contacted the Comision Nacional de Areas Naturales …

Previous review by Sinuhe Reyrub is really good, but I though I could add some information here as my first review.

When planning my visit there I though it would be easy to enjoy the site due to its convenient location between Puebla and Oaxaca. But I soon realized it would be hard and time-consuming to visit this biosphere reserve on public transport. I finally found that ecotourism tour operator based in Oaxaca offering tours there (http://tierraventura.com/ruta-tehuacan-cuicatlan/).

We chose a three-day tour in the reserve starting and ending in Oaxaca, and we had a really great time. It was probably much more expensive than visiting on our own, but it was easy, nice and very instructive. I think this is the best way to visit the reserve if you rely on public transport. We visited (and stayed in) the amazing botanical garden (already well described in the previous review). The diversity of cacti there is impressive. We also spend some time in San Juan Rayas to see the countless fossils and dinosaurs footprints. Around those two regions, the landscape of cacti covered mountains is really beautiful, especially at sunset when the light gives a deeper colour to the canyons. We hiked a bit around and spotted birds, lizards and a fox at night.

On the second day, they took us to Santiago Quiotepec, a very small and remote village. From there, we hiked a nearby mountain to see some ongoing archeological works and enjoy once more the …

This will be an "easy" place to know if you're planning travel to Mexico and visit several World Heritage sites: site is halfway between Mexico City and Oaxaca. Now, not everything is as simple as you think.

If you’re travelling from Mexico City to Oaxaca, passing through the city of Tehuacan, a classic route is take Highway-135 D (Cuacnopala-Oaxaca) until arriving Oaxaca; you will surely see beautiful landscapes and a small portion of the reserve, but you will not cross the heart. So, starting today, recommend take the difficult local Highway-980 (Tehuacan-Coxcatlan-Teotitlan-Cuicatlan-Oaxaca). Of course, the difference in hours from the city of Tehuacan to Oaxaca, on this local road, is 3 or 4 hours more; so once you're going back to Mexico City, you could take the "fast route".

As a Mexican I can tell this is probably one of the most beautiful and interesting biosphere reserves around the country, and probably after Montes Azules and Zoque Jungle, the place that struck me most in the country, (well, I don't know Calakmul yet), anyway, can be very confusing if you don't bring an adequate travel plan. The place doesn't shine because of its infrastructure, promotion or knowledge throughout the country, which I believe has allowed it to be kept in a genuine and authentic way.

There are no defined routes in its nearly 500,000 ha, and there are too many places to see. I will focus on those I have visited, and are within the core area considered to be …